QBs came off board in record numbers
The Brock Purdy impact was in full effect in this year’s NFL draft.
A year after the San Francisco 49ers found their starting quarterback with the final pick of the draft, teams were far more aggressive when it came to drafting quarterbacks in the later rounds.
Three quarterbacks went in the fourth round for the second time in the past 10 drafts and four quarterbacks went in round five for the first time since 2002. That led to a record 12 QBs going in the first five rounds for the first time ever in the common draft era that started in 1967. The previous high was 11 in 1995.
The run on QBs started early with Bryce Young going first to Carolina and C.J. Stroud going second to Houston — marking the ninth time quarterbacks went 1-2 in the common draft era, with five of those coming in the last 12 drafts.
Indianapolis then took Anthony Richardson fourth, marking the fourth time that three quarterbacks were taken with the first four picks.
Things slowed down from there with Will Levis waiting until round two to go to Tennessee and Hendon Hooker being drafted in the third round by Detroit.
Then the run on QBs started late in the fourth round when Fresno State’s Jake Haener went 124th overall to New Orleans. Six more quarterbacks followed in the next 37 picks as the philosophy of passing on late-round QBs who historically have little chance of developing into top-flight starters changed.
Some of that could be because of Purdy, who went from being “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick of the 2022 draft to winning his first seven starts as a rookie to help the 49ers reach the NFC title game last season.
While the chances that the QBs that went on day three of the draft will develop into starters are low, the payoff if it happens was high enough to justify the risk.
Two-time national champion Stetson Bennett went to the Rams the pick after Haener, with the Raiders taking Aidan O’Connell with the final pick of the fourth round. The Rams and Raiders had
been the only teams not to select a QB in any round the previous six drafts.
The fifth-round run started with Clayton Tune going to Arizona at No. 139, followed by Dorian Thompson-Robinson (140 to the Browns), Sean Clifford (149 to the Packers) and Jaren Hall (164 to the Vikings).
The final two QBs off the board were Tanner McKee to the Eagles in the sixth round and Max Duggan to the Chargers in the seventh.
In all, 14 quarterbacks were drafted last weekend, tied for the second most in the last 2 drafts behind the 15 from 2016.
TOP TIGHT ENDS >> This draft was viewed as a strong one for tight ends and that played out on day two when a record five went off the board in the second round and three more in the third.
It took a while for the first tight end to go with Buffalo trading up to take Dalton Kincaid with the 25th pick.